Most Champions League Goals Ever

Cristiano Ronaldo is the all-time leading scorer in European Cup and Champions League history, with 140 goals. He finished 11 ahead of Lionel Messi, who scored 129, capping a rivalry that turned the competition’s scoring charts into a two-man contest for well over a decade.

Scoring in the Champions League is football at its most demanding, played against the strongest defenses in the world on the biggest stage. Reaching even 50 goals marks a player as an elite European performer, which makes the totals at the top of this list all the more extraordinary. Here is the full leaderboard of the competition’s greatest scorers, the careers behind the numbers, and whether anyone can catch the leaders. All figures are as of the 2025 season.

The record holder: Cristiano Ronaldo and 140 goals

Ronaldo’s 140 goals were spread across three clubs and a remarkable 15-year peak in the competition. He set the tone at Manchester United, exploded at Real Madrid, where he became the first player to reach 100 Champions League goals, and added more at Juventus. Along the way he set the single-season record of 17 in 2013-14.

His total is now fixed, as he no longer plays in the competition, which means his lead over Messi is permanent unless a future scorer mounts a years-long chase. That combination of volume and consistency against the best opposition is what makes the record so daunting.

The full leaderboard of Champions League scorers

The table below ranks the all-time leading scorers in European Cup and Champions League history. Active players, who could still add to their totals, are noted.

Rank	Goals	Player	Clubs
1	140	Cristiano Ronaldo	Man United, Real Madrid, Juventus
2	129	Lionel Messi	Barcelona, PSG
3	109*	Robert Lewandowski	Dortmund, Bayern, Barcelona
4	90	Karim Benzema	Lyon, Real Madrid
5	71	Raul	Real Madrid, Schalke
6	68*	Kylian Mbappe	Monaco, PSG, Real Madrid
7	60	Ruud van Nistelrooy	PSV, Man United, Real Madrid
8	59	Andriy Shevchenko	Dynamo Kyiv, AC Milan, Chelsea
9	57*	Erling Haaland	Salzburg, Dortmund, Man City
10	57	Thomas Muller	Bayern Munich

*Robert Lewandowski, Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland are active; their totals are current through the 2025 season and still climbing.

The list runs from era-defining names like Raul, Andriy Shevchenko and Ruud van Nistelrooy to today’s leaders, but the top two, Ronaldo and Messi, sit in a class of their own more than 20 goals clear of the field.

Messi, Lewandowski and the chase

Lionel Messi’s 129 goals, almost all scored for Barcelona, would headline any other era. That he trails Ronaldo at all speaks to the scale of the record. Robert Lewandowski, third and still active, is the only established scorer within striking distance of the top pair over time, though even he sits well back. His scoring exploits also feature prominently among the most goals in football history.

The next generation

Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland headline the younger challengers. Both are prolific and both are years from their prime finish line, giving them a theoretical path toward the summit, though sustaining elite output across many more seasons is the hard part. Their clubs’ broader European pedigree is tracked on our most Champions League titles by a club leaderboard.

Why the record matters

Champions League goals are the ultimate test of a striker: elite defenses, hostile venues and knockout pressure. Ronaldo’s 140 and Messi’s 129 stand as the defining numbers of an unrepeatable rivalry, and their margin over the rest reflects two full careers spent at the top. For the international equivalent, our most World Cup goals leaderboard tracks the same pursuit on football’s other grandest stage.

The short version: Cristiano Ronaldo holds the Champions League scoring record with 140 goals, 11 ahead of Lionel Messi (129). Robert Lewandowski is third and the closest active challenger. As of the 2025 season, with both leaders retired from the competition, the top of the list looks set to stand for a long time.